Yokai
by ButterflyMiko
Summary: The planet Yokai. A strange, foreign land not recognized by any alliances and feared by all. Five aliens from this planet have invaded Earth and are in pursuit of a young girl with strange powers. Ben comes upon her and finds it very difficult to help her because—she's mute!
1. Attack

Kuri was running from the strange woman. The woman had orange ears and six orange tails. Floating around her were blue balls of fire.

"Damn it get back here!" The woman said in a strange, lilting voice.

Kuri kept running until she crashed into a boy, same age as her. She gasped and hid behind him.

"What the...? Hey what are you running from?" Ben said.

She backed up and pointed into the alley.

Ben walked in, but all he saw was a fox running into the woods. "It was just a fox."

Kuri backed up and looked alarmed.

"Hey, come on. What's your name? What happened?" Ben asked her.

Gwen walked up from the car. "I don't think she can talk Ben."

Kuri gratefully nodded.

"She's not a mute Gwen. She's a Yokai. That's why she was being chased by a Yokai." Kevin pointed out.

Kuri glared at him in absolute fury, her eyes black. Kevin made a pained sound and fainted.

Gwen got between them. "What did you do to him?!"

Kuri backed up a step and looked like she wanted to run.

"Not gonna happen." Ben caught her wrist. "You better be able to undo what you did to our friend!"

Kuri went over to Kevin and took a deep breath, her eyes flashing silver, then the color dancing over her hands. Moments later he opened his eyes.

"Are you hurt?" Gwen said.

"I'm not dead... " Kevin said. "That attack...she could've killed me easily, but she didn't. That attack didn't come from her. The girl's got some sort of possession going on. Also she can talk. She's just scared. The other Yokai have been chasing her for a while. They're after the thing inside her."

"One question." Ben said. "What's a Yokai?"


	2. Birthright

"A Yokai is the name of a planet." Kevin said. "But all the aliens from there call themselves Yokai, even though they have lots of different races and subraces. I don't know em all. Shouldn't you just try scanning her DNA with the Omnitrix?" Kevin said.

"I'm not sure I want to turn into...whatever she is." Ben said hesitantly.

"She has a name." Kuri said, finally speaking. "It's Kuri. Kurisuta Hikawa. And I'm a ningen thank you very much. A human. I'm not a Yokai."

Her eyes flashed silver and images flashed across the others minds.

Xxx

"Please Mother...I'm not a Hikawa anymore! I'm married, I want a family!" Atsuko, Kuri's mother, whispered to a woman named Kaori.

"You never stop being what you are. You are Miko. This is the job." Kaori responded coldly. "It won't stop until someone stops it. This is what you were born for."

Atsuko sighed. "This is the final time."

Kaori mixed something into a bowl, and fed it to her daughter. Atsuko shuddered and fainted.

"_The curse of Death for the family. The curse of Hatred for the brother. The curse of Subjugation for the vessel." _

Xxx

"You couldn't say it, could you?" Gwen realized. "Something stopped you from saying what you are."

"I can't say it directly, but I used the power of nensha to project the image into your minds." Kuri said. "I don't use it often, as she herself gains power when I use her abilities."

"Who...what...is she?" Ben asked.

"Her name is Sadako." Kuri said in a hushed tone. "My grandmother found her attacking humans through her target curses. She would cast a curse on them, and then when they were weak, she would descend to feed. In her home planet she is called an onryo, which is a subspecies of a Yurei. She is where you humans get all of your Japanese horror films of ghosts."

"But wait a sec." Kevin said. "You said earlier that you weren't an alien. How does that work?"

"You saw what my mother drank. She was pregnant when she drank that. With me and my twin brother. The yokai have the ability to share a body with a human being, only if implanted at birth. If this happens, the two cannot be separated without death." Kuri said.

"Like the DNAliens." Ben said. "But your mom wouldn't have done that on purpose."

Kuri sighed. "Of course she did. Mikos believe they can purify anything, no matter how powerful. And they also believe that the purer you are, the stronger you are, thus putting poisonous spirits into an infant. It may sound strange to you, but I'm a priestess. This is my birthright. My role in life is to purify Sadako so she can't destroy anyone else. I don't know exactly what her plans are, but she isn't going to use my body to hurt my planet."


	3. Purification

Kuri woke up in Ben's bedroom. There was a fox looking at her from the window. The same fox that had been chasing her. Kuri backed away, towards the book case.

"BEN!" Kuri cried out.

He was there in an instant, between her and the fox. He programmed Swampfire on the Omnitrix and transformed. "Swampfire!"

Kuri whimpered and jerked back.

"Bad move, Hero Boy." The fox said, transforming into a young woman, the woman with orange hair, ears, and six orange tails, surrounded by balls of blue fire. "Fighting a nature yokai with a nature alien."

"Who are you?" Ben asked, throwing his fire at her.

"The name's Reiko, and believe it or not, I'm on your team." Reiko said, catching the fire and extinguishing it in her hand.

Ben attempted to catch her by surprise by growing up behind her, but Reiko halted his growth, and he found himself unable to reach full height. He cried out in pain.

"YAMATTE! STOP IT! Your hurting him! Onegai! Please!" Kuri shouted. She reached out her palm and a shining silver light hit the yokai. Reiko stumbled, and suddenly she was a human girl with curly red hair and green eyes. She looked at her hands and shuddered.

"You purified me!" Reiko shrieked. Her voice was normal now, human.

Ben's Omnitrix timed out and the pain stopped as he reverted to human. He stumbled out from under his bookcase. He looked over at Kuri. She was shaking, looking at her hands.

Apparently, whatever power she had, she hadn't known about it herself. But she had saved his life. And what about Reiko? Was she really on their side?


	4. Vessels

"Okay okay cool it." Reiko said calming down finally. "Allow me to explain myself. Trust me. I have zero power right now, and you two have all the power. So, let me talk?"

Kuri turned to Ben. He shrugged. The yokai obviously didn't know he couldn't use the Omnitrix. Well better keep it that way.

"You can talk." Kuri said, sounding calm. "But one wrong move and I'll zap you to kingdom come."

Ben grinned. He was starting to like this girl. She had guts.

"Well. If she was going to shelter herself she must be an idiot." Reiko smirked, foxlike. "Choosing a priestess for a vessel."

"You're talking about Sadako." Kuri stated.

"Of course I am. Sadako is a criminal, and my mission is to capture her! Ah let me start at the beginning." Reiko said, waving a hand and restoring the room, then sitting on the bed. "What? My magic restores itself faster then the rest of my power."

"Are you gonna explain?" Ben said.

"Yes." Reiko replied. "First of all, and you should understand this, boy, cuz you can do it too, Yokai can't just come to Earth. Humans are limited and can't see us; we're like ghosts to them. Not only that but our power is incredibly weak here too. Earth has no natural magic, it is a land we call "mundane." Nature magic, the kind wielded by the Yokai, also called magick, hasn't existed on Earth since 1950, don't bother asking why, it'll take too long to explain."

"But you're here, Reiko. By the way, I'm Kuri and that's Ben." Kuri said. "How are you here and using magick?"

"This girl, Rachel Minamino, is a human being possessing an affinity for plants. She has a real green thumb, let me tell you—"

"So you possessed her?!" Ben was outraged.

"Of course not!" Reiko said angrily. "Don't compare me to Sadako. Rachel's mother was dying. I told her I could cure her mother's illness if she would fight at my side for this mission only. The other five warriors in my group have made similar arrangements. And if at any time, Rachel disagrees with my decisions, she can boot me out and I fly straight back to Yokai. You do the same thing Ben. You are a warrior that shares your body with aliens in order to fight."

Ben considered this and finally nodded.

"What was your mission?" Kuri said.

"Sadako was a war criminal. She wanted access to the Earth and other planets that had creatures we could vessellize, though we were fine and flourishing on Yokai. She had a following, but they were brought down. I dealt her a fatal blow in battle, and thought her dead, until I intercepted a communication from her to Yokai a week ago. The communication was to her mate, whom we never captured. So my comrades and I, the Warriors, took vessels and headed to Earth. As for you...Kuri..."

"What about her?" Ben said defensively.

"I look at her and I see a forced vesselization." Reiko replied. "She's eating Kuri from the inside out, or should be, but either they are compatible, or Kuri has an extremely powerful soul. Whatever the reason, we need to—"

"My old friend. You look different. Ugly." Sadako smiled.

As he watched Reiko crumple to the ground in pain, attacked in the same way Kevin had been. Ben winced, agonizing pain coursing through him, as his shaking hand reached for his Omnitrix.


	5. Ben vs Sadako

Ben managed to slap down the Omnitrix, choosing more carefully this time; to avoid her attacks, he needed speed—"Jetray!"

The long haired humanoid alien, Sadako, pulled at her dark hair. She had a black star on her forehead, pale skin, and wore a dress that was colored like the night sky. She kept disappearing and reappearing into the shadows.

Ben figured the idea would be to expose her to the light, using Jetray's laser vision.

"Augh! This vessel!" Sadako spat in disgust. "Why the hell do I have all this hair? It's in the way!"

Sadako faded in the shadows and reappeared outside in the dusk.

Jetray flew outside and looked for Sadako. He wondered what use the other warriors were when they didn't show up to fight Sadako when she was on the loose.

He watched as she emerged, and flew over. "Let there be light!" He used his laser vision to weaken her.

She turned to him. "That's physical light. Only pure light can stop me. Something a tainted human like you could never reach. You are arrogant and angry. You have darkness, just like all humans. But you are their champion, so you will die slow."

Sadako didn't send the pain into Jetray. Instead he found himself caught by shadows. They passed through him harmlessly, but he found himself back in his human form, and his memories, his failures pierced his mind. He tried to fight it.

But then he found that there was something in his chest. An arrow, made of darkness, was poisoning him slowly.

Sadako stood there smiling as his vision began to fade.

Suddenly the arrow vanished as a light blinded him. Ben looked for the source, then realized it was Sadako. She was glowing brightly. Was this the 'pure light'?

The star on her forehead shattered, and her body faded into Kuri's form, still glowing and looking absolutely furious.

"YURUSANAI!" Kuri shouted, and then more quietly. "Unforgivable..."


	6. Unforgivable

Kuri held Ben in her arms and shimmered back into Ben's house. She carefully laid him on the bed, and held her glowing hands over him.

He instantly felt better. He calmed down and realized she was still glowing and furious. He didn't know much about her power but he knew from using the Omnitrix that you couldn't keep power like that activated for too long.

She was shaking, quivering in anger.

Kuri went over to Reiko and healed her too, then undid the purification on her body, allowing her to return to her Yokai state.

"Kuri you've got to calm down." Ben said.

"She t-tried to kill you! She USED me! She hurt Reiko too! I-I feel violated..." Kuri shouted.

"He's right calm down. You are a miko. You can't keep your reiki so elevated for so long." Reiko said.

"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!" Kuri yelled. "She used me like a meat puppet! Do you have any idea how I feel?!"

"I do." Ben said. "I had an alien go bad once. His name was Ghostfreak. And I know how scared and angry it makes you feel. But you are stronger than her. You broke her control. You have the pure light that she is so scared of. Kuri, you are her greatest weakness, and choosing you as a host is her undoing."

Kuri finally calmed down, her glow fading as she sat on Ben's bed. "So what now Ben?"

"I think you meant to ask me." Reiko said. "And here's what. I'm going to use Ben's fireplace to send a signal to the other Yokai warriors."

"Smoke signals?" Ben asked.

"No, the signal travels through the element of fire. It's Pyromancy." Kuri said, eyes silver.

"You sure you aren't an alien?" Ben asked.

"Kuri isn't an alien. She's a rare kind of human, one in a hundred or so. Her DNA is triple-helix." Reiko explained, though she sounded weary of explanations. "The third helix houses her magickal chromosomes. You should know Ben, because anyone with the ability to wield any sort of power, alien or magickal, has triple helix DNA. That's where your aliens latch on. When you transform, your third helix falls away, and the alien helix attaches."

"Wow..." Ben sort of understood her.

"So I'm not a freak?" Kuri asked.

"No," Reiko said. "In ancient times you would have been a priestess, a warrior for good, protecting the innocent from evil spirits. Now you have to find a path that suits you in this modern world. Maybe your friend Ben here can help you. He obviously knows how to use power the right way."

Kuri nodded. Reiko walked into the living room and started to chat with the flames, and Ben turned to Kuri thoughtfully.

"Hey Kuri, do you wanna go out on a date? We can go to the carnival? It'll be fun." Ben said, all in a rush, rather nervously.

"Ben I almost killed you and you want—"

"But you didn't. That wasn't you." Ben said. "You are a hero like me. I'm not gonna rest until you believe it too. So about that date..."

Kuri shook her head, then beamed. "Ok!"

Ben realized he had never seen her smile like that before, and he really liked it.


	7. Preparation

You're a girl Gwen." Kuri said.

"Yes, that's true." Gwen laughed.

"Well...how do you prepare for your dates with Kevin?" Kuri asked.

Gwen choked on her smoothie. "We're not—"

"All you have to do is show up, do whatever he wants, and offer to pay once in a while, and don't forget to kiss Ben!" Kevin laughed.

"Ignore him." Gwen said, taking Kuri into her room. "You wear about my size. And you'd look good in...blue."

"Do I really have to kiss him? I don't know how to do that." Kuri said. "I could be bad at it."

"People aren't really bad at that." Gwen said. "Do you want to wear make up?"

"Make up?" Kuri tilted her head.

"You've never heard of make up?" Gwen said. "Well it's ok if you're a tomboy."

"There's no time for this usually. I come in and out. I wake up in pools of blood and...I-I..." Kuri wrung her hands.

"Hey calm down." Gwen said. "You are stronger than her remember. You have pure light. Besides that...Ben likes you."

"He just feels sorry for me. All of you do." Kuri sighed a little.

"Now that's just not true. For one thing Ben doesn't think like that, he's not really all that sensitive. Yes he wants to help you but it's because he likes you. He's never been around a girl who could be a hero like him. Well I mean...besides me, and I'm his cousin." Gwen said, finishing with her.

Kuri was wearing a blue sundress with little clouds on it, and she had two white clips in her long black hair on either side, and small white flip flops. The make up had been a no go because she and Gwen were so different in appearance, and Gwen didn't have any make up for her caramel colored skin. But she did loan her some cherry lip gloss and some waterproof mascara.

"So...Ben likes me...your sure..." Kuri said finally. "So that's what this feels like."

Gwen took out a pendant.

"What's this Gwen?" Kuri said. "I don't need anything else."

"Oh this? It's for your temperamental other half." Gwen said. "Is she listening?"

"Still knocked out from before." Kuri said.

Gwen put the necklace on her. "This necklace allows you to suppress your other half once, just once, and then its useless. I'm looking for stronger magic to use on her but—"

Kuri hugged her. "Thank you Gwen."


	8. Date

Kuri knocked on Ben's door, seven o'clock sharp.

"Wow." Ben said.

"Um...yeah. Gwen helped a lot." Kuri said.

"I thought you might like to go to the fair." Ben said, leading her into the fair.

"What's that?" Kuri pointed at the Ferris Wheel.

"Wow, you've got a lot of catching up to do!" Ben said. "Ok do you wanna start with rides or food?"

Kuri's stomach rumbled, answering the question.

Ben took her to the food court. "What do you like?"

"Usually I just eat onigiri or dango." Kuri replied. When Ben looked puzzled, she continued. "Rice balls and dumplings."

"Well you can't go wrong with a corn dog." Ben ordered them each one.

Kuri sniffed it and stared at it a while.

"Cmon, it won't bite." Ben said. "So you should!"

Kuri laughed and ate it. "I want to try something sweet next."

"Try a fried Twinkie." Ben said. "The fair's famous for them."

He ordered her one and she loved it, getting another.

"So you really don't know what foods you like?" Ben asked.

"Well I spent most of my life in and out of consciousness. I don't know if Sadako ever ate when she was out, but I shudder to think..." Kuri trembled.

"Hey, don't think about that now." Ben said. "Wanna go on a ride?"

Kuri's eyes traveled to a stuffed duck in one of the game stands on the midway. "Could I maybe...play a game?"

"They're all rigged." Ben said.

"Just let me try?" Kuri looked longingly at the duck.

Ben sighed and put the money down for the darts game.

Kuri aimed once. Miss. Twice. Miss.

"Maybe you should let me—"

"I got this." Kuri said confidently, throwing her final dart and hitting the bullseye. The owner didn't see, but Ben saw the silver glow guide it to the center.

"One duck please." Kuri said, and the owner handed it over, which she hugged.

Ben pulled her to one side, a bit angry. "You cheated."

"He had the darts weighted. There was no way to win without cheating. I made the game even." Kuri said.

Ben laughed a little. So she did know something about the world after all.

"Let's go on the Ferris Wheel, ok?" Kuri said.

The two sat on the ride, and Ben was surprised as she clung to him when the ride rose into the air. Not afraid of a ghostly monster that terrorized her soul, but she was afraid of heights?

As they got off, she hugged him.

"That was my first date. Thanks for making it fun Ben." Kuri said. She held his hands for a moment, then kissed him.

As he was kissing her back, she shimmered out of the fairgrounds, taking the duck with her.

Ben headed for the car, realizing that she had never had any real fun, never been a kid at all. It wasn't just that he wanted to help her anymore.

Ben wanted her to be free


	9. Divination

Kuri sat in front of the fire, watching the flames, hoping for a vision of the future that wouldn't end in pain and torment for her new friends.

Kuri's eyes glistened silver as she watched the fire dance, watched every possible version of the future.

Every path that could be taken, all the ways the plan could succeed or fail

There was one shadow, ever so consistent, over her future.

Sadako.

The more she looked in the future the more she could see it. The deaths of everyone, her hands coated in blood.

Kuri forced herself to look further, to find the solutution—the fire leapt—and there it was.

But did she have the strength to go through with it?

Was the pure light really—

"Kuri." Ben was standing in the doorway, looking sleepy. "You were screaming."

Kuri closed her mouth. "I was?"

Ben sat beside her. "Did you have a nightmare?"

She shook her head. "Ben? How do you feel about going on another date after this is all over?"

Ben looked surprised; she hadn't been this direct before. "Um, yeah ok. Is something wrong?"

"If we set a date like that, then it means we'll have to finish this no matter what." Kuri explained. "It means no dying."

Ben hugged her; she was shaking in fear. "No dying."


	10. Call

I have finished my beacon." Reiko said.

"Beacon?" Ben said sleepily.

He had stayed up after Kuri had fallen asleep last night, afraid she would get scared again, and finally fallen asleep in the chair next to her bed.

"She means...she's been calling them." Kuri said. "I hear it too. Maybe because I'm a vessel; but I hear the sounds of them reaching out to your beacon. Your friends are very close."

"They will be here tomorrow." Reiko confirmed. "Kuri I have no idea what this might mean for you."

"For her?" Ben stood up. "Nothing! She's done nothing wrong! You can't just—"

Kuri put a hand on his shoulder. "Nothing is decided. Not until they arrive. I'm sure they'll listen to you: you're a hero."

Ben sat down. At the moment he didn't feel like much of a hero; he couldn't do anything for her!

As if sensing his thoughts, Kuri sat beside him.

"You are a hero Ben. You're my hero."


	11. Judgement

Mana, Kiana, Ava, and Billie arrived in front of the house.

They all looked human, but retained certain alien characteristics.

Mana had long dark hair and dark eyes. She had blue scales and seemed to radiate fire and water.

Kiana was blonde with blue eyes. She glowed golden and as bright as a star.

Ava hand wavy brown hair and hazel eyes. She had beautiful bright wings and sparkled.

Billie had cropped blonde hair and brown eyes. She sparkled too, but seemed more human than the others.

"So this is the abomination?" Mana said, eyeing Kuri.

Ben's hand hovered over the Omnitrix, but Kuri gripped his wrist. "Don't."

"You're coming with us. You must face judgement on Yokai." Mana said.

"Like hell she is." Ben said. "She hasn't done anything wrong! She's been keeping Sadako from hurting anyone for her whole life. She never got to be a kid! This is all your fault!"

"Relax Ben. I'm in charge of the Yokai Warriors. We will not be holding the vessel responsible." Reiko said.

The others groaned. As the leader, her orders were absolute.

"That's enough." Kuri said. "It's my choice. I have a solution."


	12. Kamikaze

Reiko." Kuri continued. "I want you to forcibly extract Sadako from my body."

"What! That could kill you!" Ben said.

"It will kill her." Mana said.

"Then you can't do it!" Ben said, reaching for her.

"Enough!" Reiko said. "It's her choice."

"That's right." Kuri said.

She walked over to Ben and embraced him.

As she did so, she placed a hand on his Omnitrix, and it switched into recharge mode.

"Living with a parasite like this...it's not really living at all Ben." Kuri said. "But you showed me what it's like to have fun, and what its like to love someone. I felt human, and happy."

"KURI DON'T DO THIS!" Ben shouted as she entered the magickal circle and was lost to him.

Tears fell as he realized she was going to die.

"Thank you for everything...my hero." Kuri whispered. "I love you Ben Tennyson."

"No..." Ben gasped. "Don't do this...live, please...I love you too."

"I know." Kuri said. "But I need to be free."


	13. Ceremony

"You can't do this!" Ben shouted, reaching for his Omnitrix.

Suddenly a pink beam of energy caught his hand and pulled him back.

"Gwen? Why?" Ben said.

"She made this choice." Kevin said.

"She'll die!" Ben said. "We're HEROES! We're supposed to save her."

"You can't save everyone." Gwen said.

The five warriors surrounded Kuri in a star shape.

"Air, Fire, Water, Earth." Reiko said. "I summon thee."

Each warrior glowed as their element was summoned.

"_Demon's soul hides_

_Behind an innocent's face_

_This yokai magic_

_Casts you_

_Out of this place"_

They incanted.

"_Vanish these words! Vanish this evil!"_

A dark shadow left Kuri as she screamed.

Ben fought to run to her and finally got free, invading the circle.

The shadow moved, seeking out a new body—Ben's.


	14. Ending

ENOUGH!" Kuri snarled, sacred power bursting out of her like a wave.

The magic wrapped around Sadako, and with it, a dark power pulled from her, ripping from her.

She screamed, a horrifying, feral sound.

It was all Ben could do to watch.

"She's powerless." Gwen said. "Kuri took her powers away."

"She can do that?!" Kevin said.

"Kuri must have always been a powerful priestess." Gwen said. "Sadako chose her because she was threatened by her."

Kuri pulled Sadako, binding her with sacred bonds. "Take her home. Let her be with her lover. The two of them can no longer harm anyone."

The warriors consented, taking Sadako into their waiting ship.

Kuri helped Ben to his feet.

"What now?" Ben said.

"Now I'm like you. A warrior." Kuri smiled. "And your girl."

The two kissed as the ship flew out of the atmosphere


End file.
